Recommended Bibliography

Books Written by Process Therapists

Marion Pastor, Ph.D., and Ron Luyet, MFCC, MA. Where Freedom Begins: The Process of Personal Change. Wingbow Press, 1993.
Freedom begins with the realization that we define ourselves through the attitudes and behaviors we’ve inherited from our parents. By relating the experiences of the people in this book to the reader’s own and using the simple exercises, we are given the chance to define ourselves as we are now, not as we were long ago.
“This is a fascinating account of how emotional work can help a person let go of the past and claim freedom and autonomy in the present. ”
–Frances Vaughan, Ph.D., author, Gift of Peace and Inward ArcPurchase through The Institute for Personal Change

James W. Tamm and Ronald J. Luyet. Radical Collaboration: Five Essential Skills to Overcome Defensiveness and Build Successful Relationships, HarperBusiness, 2004
A how-to manual for anyone who wants to be more skillful in building relationships, both professional and personal. Are you defensive and fearful? Is that preventing you from collaborating? Use the exercises in this book to identify your habits, and then learn how to moderate them. You will quickly become more effective at work and at home.
“Insightful, readable, and highly entertaining, Radical Collaboration is the perfect book for anyone interested in creating productive relationships and resolving disputes of all kinds.”
–Fred D’Orazio, chief administrative law judge, California Public Employment Relations Board

Marion Pastor, Ph.D. Psychospiritual Explorations: A Personal Journey, 2010
In this book, Marion Pastor (at ninety years old) describes her chaotic childhood and confused and often unhappy young adulthood, with just enough moments of grace to send her on a quest, starting in her late thirties, to discover a way that she (and others like her) could achieve inner peace and happiness regardless of their early conditioning. She investigated over fifty of the major psychospiritual approaches available in California during the last half of the twentieth century. In this volume she writes of her experiences and tracks her personal growth through her participation in many of these approaches. Her book gives a unique and valuable perspective on some of the historical beginnings of the psychospiritual movement including the Process and its leaders.

Other Resources

Articles

“To Help Kids Thrive, Coach their Parents” Opinion by Paul Tough, New York Times 5/22/2016. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/22/opinion/sunday/to-help-kids-thrive-coach-their-parents.html?_r=0 Summary: “…the stress that parents and teachers feel can in turn elevate the stress levels of the children in their care, in ways that can undermine the children’s mental health and intellectual development.” Training parents to encourage attachment, warmth and trust between parent and child has far reaching impacts, including child behavior and learning in school, development of non-cognitive skills, increasing emotional stability and psychological resilience. (Note: The Process is an effective way to help the parents and teachers decrease their own stress levels and encourage attachment, warmth and trust with the children in their care.)

Pennebaker, J.W. (2004). Writing to Heal: A Guided Journal for Recovering from Trauma and Emotional Upheaval. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Press. ISBN 978-1-57224-365-1. (Out of print). This is a workbook aimed for a general audience. It draws on recent research to help guide people who want to try to write about emotional issues in their lives.